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Macintosh
This is one of the greatest debates of all time in the computer industry: which OS (Operating System) is more superior? For this debate, the Macintosh and Microsoft Windows will be discussed. Microsoft specializes in making software and its famous OS named Windows. However, Macintosh not only produces operating systems and software, but also the hardware to run it. To keep it simple, we will limit the discussion to just the operating systems produced by the two corporations.
To start off, why would anyone want to be picky about their OS? Isn't everyone happy with Windows (The word "everyone" is exagerated but somewhat fair since Windows dominates the PC world by a very large margin)? If so, why do thousands of computer users prefer other operation systems like Linux and Apple and others complain about Windows to their buddies? The most likely reason is that every individual has their specific needs and have a specific goal from their computer. Now what kind of user likes Windows and Apple? This is too broad of a question since millions of different users run Windows and Apple, but we can safely generalize a few facts. Most people know that Macintosh computers are used in graphic-demanding jobs such as newspaper, magazine, software and architecture corporations to name a few. Windows based PCs are used in most private homes, schools, and small businesses that don't need high performance machines to render graphics or edit camera footage. Because of this difference one can see why there are more people using Windows than Macintosh. Why do large companies choose Macintosh over Windows? Most explain that they are reliable and have the processing power to do the graphic-based job. But can I support this statement? Answer this, why do you think the majority of such corporations buy the more expensive option for their employees? Why does the US government use UNIX based computers which is exactly what a Macintosh is. Why would a magazine company want to spend thousands of US dollars on a dual processor? It's because Apples have the most power, are more stable and don't throw Blue Screens in front of it's user. (Windows XP doesn't have Blue Screens like its predecessors, instead the computer will just freeze...) Probably the most important factor of an OS is its reliability. Is Micrsoft Windows more reliable than Apple's OS? The majority using each OS might shed some light on the answer to this quesiton. It seems the majority using Macintoshes are large corporations while most government agencies around the world use UNIX based computers due to their high level of stability. As for Window users, they are the average person with a computer in his/her house for personal use or using a PC in their office to fill out Excel sheets and write Word documents. We've known Macintoshes to be more expensive than the alternative PC and because it only has a fraction of the world market, it's not compatible with most of the computer world. This explains why home-users and small businesses choose the PC over the Mac and shows how determined large corporations are at over-coming these two draw backs to have the reliability and power their products rely on. If it's not enough evidence to see corporations spend more money on Apples in order to get a more powerful machine, then think about this: Macintosh was the first corporation to succesfully build a dual-processor, which in the past was seen as a near impossibility. Apple dual-processors have always out performed PCs until; they caught up with dual technology. AS for chip to chip comparison, Motorola makes the G processors and Intel is the leading corporation making Pentiums for the PC. Benchmarks are hard to come by that can fairly test run a PC as well as the Macintosh due to compatibility issue. From what I've gathered, it seems PCs are faster at non-graphic tasks such as document processing while Macintoshes are built to process graphics. It's just world known that Apples will out render any PC and because of this, Apples run software games more smoothly than the PC. In the past when Apple ran operating systems up untill Mac OS 9, I wouldn't suggest Apples for the common computer user due to the two draw backs discussed earlier. But times have changed. First Microsoft released a version of Internet Explorer for the new iMacs in 1998, then Macintosh released Mac OS X in 2002 and at the same time Microsoft released a compatible version of the whole Microsoft Office package for the new OS X. With the start of the iMac in 1998, Software developers began offering an Apple version for their products, including game developers. Now that O\Mac OS X is in full swing, Apple users can actually run the Windows XP platform ontop of OS X, the compatibility issue is a thing of the past. As for the price issue, the new iMacs cost just as much as the current Dells and Gateways while the protable iBooks start at one thousand dollars, the equivalent of any common laptop. With the start of the 21st Century, Macintosh has successfully removed two of the biggest draw-backs of owning an Apple, two issues PC fans use against Macintsoh are now obsolete. |
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